What Will Become
by Maiyri-Omega
Summary: NaNo practice. Max loses her wings. Who's gonna be there to catch her? Oneshot. Mari.


**What Will Become**

Maiyri  
Rated T for the Pairing  
Which is Max/Ari, or Mari as it's known  
Set in an alternate universe in which the (sucky) end of MR3 does not exist.  
I do not own Maximum Ride. Nathan-p does.  
A/N: Hey! Is writing Mari again! For Supergirrl, who deserves some Mari that's written by someone else for a change. This is practice for NaNo, ie, writing without editing and hoping something decent turns up.

The poem in here is taken from the student magazine _Critic _and is written by M Hunter.

**--**

_Bones  
become soil underfoot  
limbs  
are snapped like twigs  
fingers  
crush like fallen leaves  
skin  
drips down to the ground  
eyes  
grow mossy and faded  
hearts  
fill with rain._

**--**

Do you understand what it's like to fly? Do you feel the air, the wind, the sky, the clouds call at your soul, every day, every hour, every second into eternity or death, whichever comes first.

I could fly.

Now I'm bound to this earth, a caged bird, put on show to sing. I'm a bird freak without wings.

I'm missing the only part of me that made sense. Men can make sense of what they create. It's why they spread out over the land like a cancer, destroying everything they touch.

I'm Maximum Ride, and I walk the dying earth.

I walk because I cannot fly.

--

We have a job to do.

No.

The flock has a job to do.

I can't keep up, can't fly. What's left of my wings are scraps of feathers, flesh and bone. I can't let go. I'm nothing without them. I can't save the world.

My part in this was just teaching my flock to hold their own.

They save the world for me.

I watch them fly away.

Arms wrap around my waist. I'm not crying.

I wish I could.

'_I understand.' _He whispers in my ear.

He does.

--

I screamed.

I sat in silence.

They didn't know what was worse.

He told me he loved me. That he'd do anything for me.

'_Give up you wings'_ I said.

He said no.

They left, leaving me behind.

--

Less screams.

More silence.

He came. He told me stories of what my Flock were doing. Where they were. How they were doing.

I stared at the wall.

He told me he loved me. That he'd do anything just to see me look alive. Even for just for a second.

'_Give up you wings'_ I said.

He left too.

Then he came back.

Wingless.

'_I understand' _he said. _'I'll do anything for you.'_

I looked into his eyes. He took me outside, and we sat by the lake. He told me about everything and nothing.

I got better.

--

He told me he loved me.

Then he kissed me.

--

The flock came back. Fang's flock. I sat by the lake. Talking to Ari.

Fang landed.

For the first time in a year, I stood, smiled, and prepared to greet him.

Fang ignored me, instead putting his fist into Ari's face.

"Fang!" I shrieked, my eyes on my love's shocked and unhappy face. "Leave him alone!"

He wouldn't listen. Instead he launched an attack, a series of quick and devastating punches and kicks.

Ari lay on the ground bleeding. Fang turned to me, sick satisfaction in his dark eyes. "He won't bother you again, Max." He said. So confident. "I'll make sure this bastard never comes within ten miles of you."

I stared at him in horror. He stood there, blood on his hands, expecting to be congratulated for this violence.

"Peace." I whispered.

Confusion filled Fang's face.

I ran to Ari's side, helped him stand up and limp inside to the doctors. They could fix him.

This time, I was leaving Fang behind.

--

I sat outside, watching the ripples on the lake.

The flock came and sat down beside me.

Except Fang. Fang stood. Glaring at me.

"They told us that you've been spending a lot of time with Ari."

I smile. Ari's good to me.

"Yeah, I say. He's helping me."

Iggy and Fang look angry. Nudge and Gazzy look disgusted. Angel plays with her feet. She knows.

"He's an Eraser!" Gazzy exclaims. "You hate Erasers!"

I look out at the beautiful view. What's beauty? It's only a thing. What you are on the inside is what counts. Ari is beautiful on the inside.

"Where does hate get anyone." I say. "We should all get along."

Fang snorts. I look up at him. "He's helping me, Fang."

"Yeah, right." Fang snorts back.

"Don't you want me to get better?" I ask.

Guilt flashes over his face. "Not with _him_."

"You have to save the world."

Fang looks pained. It's not that easy, he knows now.

"Why?" he says. It means so many things.

"He understands." I say.

--

They leave again, but this time I'm not left behind.

I've left them behind in a way too.

Our paths will meet, but for now, they're going in separate directions.

I walk inside, and sit by Ari's bed. I stroke his hair, and press a kiss to his forehead. He smiles in his sleep.

This is right where I need to be.

--

_You hold me  
like I will slide  
through your fingers.  
Whisper into my hair  
as though one day  
you will bring me to perfection.  
Leave me to this Earth  
where soft rain kisses the ground.  
What will become.  
What will become._


End file.
